Unit1 Good Friends

7  “ouch! i hit myself with it.”
8  a: hurry up! it’s so dark here. i can’t see anything.
9  “it is shaking badly. am i going to die? help! … oh, thank god!”
10 “i feel sad when it comes to the part in which the two friends become enemies.”
answers 1 rope  2 notebook  3 pan   4 gun   5 mirror  6 compass  7 hammer   8 match  9 airplane   10 movie
get the students to think about what it would be like to be alone on a deserted island. the activity is not direct linked to a reading strategy or a structure in the reading, but is intended to be used as a preliminary activity related to the previous parts of the unit. the pre-reading exercise also gives the students an opportunity to practise giving opinions and making decisions.
explain the situation to the students and give them time to think about what they would bring. the activity should generate different choices and opinions, thus making it a good opportunity for discussion. tell the students to work in groups. ask them to describe the usefulness of each item in the box and then decide on the three most useful ones. make sure that each group member gets an opportunity to speak. encourage the students to use the structures i think… because…/ i could use it to…/ it could be used to …/ …would be more important than … because … ask one student from each group to write their answers on the blackboard. compare answers from different groups and have a short discussion.  e.g. 1.i think a knife would be the most useful item, because i could use it to kill animals and cut the meat. it could also be used to cut wood. 2.i also think a box of matches would be useful because i could use the matches to make fire. if i had a fire, i could cook food, stay warm and keep wild animals away. more importantly, if someone saw the fire, they would come and save me. 3.i think a book would be more useful than a radio, because you don’t need batteries to read. and when i read, i would learn about life and the world and forget my loneliness.
extension 1: ask the students to think about how the things could help them in other situations, for example, if they were lost in a desert or a forest. extension 2: let the students talk about how they would feel in an extreme situation. how would they feel if they were alone on a deserted island? (angry, desperate, lonely, hungry, worried, hopeful, happy, afraid etc.) what would they do to try to overcome these feelings? extension 3: ask the students if they have read books or seen movies about island life, for example, robinson crusoe, cast away, six days and seven nights, etc. how did the main characters survive? how were they rescued? extension 4 after the discussion, you can ask the students to consider the similarities and differences between spiritual and materialistic needs, i.e. the things we need and the social interaction we need.